I brought in the last arrangement and set it on a side table in the chapel, beside the three other flower arrangements. Lilies. They reminded me of the town gas station, which seemed random, but the owner there kept a jar full of pens at the register. And on the ends of those pens were colorful fake lilies, their stems attached with green floral tape.

For the last two weeks, though, that gas station had reminded me of Kyle. When he and I had left the park to get dessert on the Fourth of July, nothing in town was open. So Kyle drove us to the gas station, and we sat in his Mustang with the top down, eating Hostess cupcakes and watching bottle rockets light the sky. It should’ve been romantic, but then Kyle said, “I could spend every Fourth of July for the rest of my life right here,” and I knew. I knew that the quiz I had taken with Micah was wrong. Kyle and I weren’t compatible. At least that’s what I’d thought that night. Then I’d spent the next two weeks wondering if I was just sabotaging myself. If I was trying too hard or not trying hard enough. If I was reading into things or not reading into things enough. After all, if I’d been thinking about this, about Kyle, for the last two weeks, didn’t that say something?

“That’s it?” Caroline asked, bringing me out of my memory. I looked up to see my boss pointing to the lily arrangement I’d just set down. I had already brought in the large standing spray that Caroline had spent the entire morning on. The family had ordered it and it would stand by the casket at the front of the church. “Four arrangements?” Caroline added, frowning. “Nobody else ordered one?”

Funerals were different from most events we did. The flowers for funerals depended solely on attendees’ orders. And John was … well, John. Not exactly the winner of any popularity contests. “Yep, just four.” I wasn’t about to tell her that I had bought one myself when I saw how few orders we had. I liked John. I liked him even more after our interaction at the Valentine’s Day Dinner. It was the best fake money I’d ever spent. Remembering that brought a lump to my throat.

Caroline looked at her watch. “We have time. Will you run back to the shop and grab two or three more arrangements from our half-off fridge?” The half-off fridge was full of flowers that hadn’t sold in their prime. Caroline shook her head. “Poor old bugger. He was grouchy in life so people are trying to prove a point with his death.”

“I think he was misunderstood,” I said.

She waved her hand at the flowers. “There’s no misunderstanding here.”

“I’ll run to the store.” I walked down the aisle between the pews and to the outer foyer. A side room was open and the Farnsworth family was gathered there for the viewing. It was very quiet. The open casket sat on one end of the room and John’s family sat in chairs lined up on the other. I was sure they’d already said their goodbyes and now had no idea what to do with the lifeless form in the room.

When I got the first call at the shop three days ago, from one of John’s sons, he had said it was a heart attack. That it happened in the night and he passed on peacefully. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

I kept walking and stepped outside. “Sorry about the lack of flowers, John,” I said to the sky.

“Are you talking to dead people?” Micah was leaning against the flower van.

“Yes, actually,” I said. “Nobody but family, well, and me, bought him flowers.” It wasn’t until the words were out of my mouth that I noticed Andrew coming over to join Micah. “What are you two doing here?” I added. “This event isn’t catered.” Much like the flowers, in this town the food was brought to an open house, potluck-style, after the graveside service.

Andrew cleared his throat. “My dad made a dish to bring to the family later, but Micah said it would be strange to show up at the house without having attended the funeral. So here I am. And this feels stranger to me—going to the funeral of a man I’ve never met.”

“You met him.” I walked around to the driver’s side and climbed into the flower van.

“Are you going somewhere?” Micah asked.

“Yes, I have to run back to the shop.”

Micah slid open a side door and gestured for Andrew to get in. He did, and Micah climbed in after him and shut the door.

“I’ve met him?” Andrew asked as I started the van.

“At the Valentine’s Dinner. He was my dessert date.”

“The guy who gave me a hard time when you were the one abusing me?”

I looked both ways and pulled out onto the street. “I disagree with your memory but yes, that guy.”

“See,” Micah said, “you have met him. Now you can stop whining about having to come to this. Besides, weren’t you just saying at the Fourth of July thing that you were bummed there wasn’t another event until October? Your wish has been granted.”

“I wasn’t wishing death upon someone!” Andrew said.

“It’s the silver lining,” Micah said. Then she leaned forward and tugged on the layered sleeve of my black blouse. “You look cute.”

“Thanks.”

“What about me?” Andrew asked. “Do I look cute?”

“No,” I said at the same time Micah said, “Always.”

“Why do you encourage him?” I asked.

Micah pinched his chin. “Because look at this face. It’s so adorable.”

Andrew smirked, eating up the praise.

Micah turned her attention to the road in front of us. “Where are we going again?” she asked me.

I made a left onto Main Street. “Like I said, we only have four flower arrangements. I’m getting a few more from the shop.”

“We get to see headquarters?” Andrew asked.

“Yes, you get to see where Sophie gets her powers,” Micah replied with a laugh.

“Ugh,” I said. “You get to see what drains all my energy in a huge fragrant time suck.”

In the rearview mirror, Micah gave me a big eye roll. On the right, we passed Everything, and then I pulled into the parking lot of Every Occasion.

I shut off the engine, and we climbed out of the van. The sign on the door of the shop announced we were closed for the John Farnsworth funeral, basically shaming anyone who wasn’t doing the same. I unlocked the door and held it open for Micah and Andrew. The scent in the shop was powerful. Roses, mainly, with a hint of decay. The door shut behind me with a bell ring.

Two walls of the shop were glass-doored fridges to keep the already-arranged flowers fresh. The display table at the center of the shop was full of various types of fresh-cut flowers. We also had a wall with cards and small stuffed animals.

“We won’t be here long,” I said, making my way to the half-off fridge on the back wall. I examined the selection in there. Most were completely inappropriate for a funeral—a pink-and-red rose display, a cheery yellow-daisy-and-orange-chrysanthemum arrangement—but I found some more neutral options. One that was all white roses, one that was various shades of hydrangeas. I remembered we had some leftover lilies in the back, so I decided I would quickly grab those as well.

Andrew laughed from somewhere behind me, and I turned to see him examining the large standing chalkboard in the corner. We usually displayed it right outside the door during business hours. Caroline used it to make store announcements. I used it to highlight different flowers. This morning, before we closed, I had added a paragraph about lilies. At first Caroline hadn’t liked my snarky, seemingly negative assessments of flowers, but the customers liked them so much that she’d eventually come around. Now I’d even found her chuckling at a few.

I went to the back, grabbed the bucket of lilies, and brought them to the front counter.

“So many lilies.” Micah picked a large white one out of the bucket and tucked it in her tight curls, which she wore natural today.

“Didn’t you say lilies were your favorite?” Andrew asked, walking over to the counter.

He remembered what I said my favorite flower was? “No, I said calla lilies were my favorite.”

“Um …”

“They’re not the same thing,” I said. “They’re not even in the same genus.” Okay, so I wouldn’t have known this before working at the store, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to use it against him.

“They just have similar names,” Micah said. “Not sure why you would’ve confused them at all.”

“Gee, thanks,” Andrew said.

I looked back and forth between two vases, trying to decide which one I wanted to use. I picked the one on the right. I didn’t have a lot of time so I bundled a group of lilies together in my hand, creating a symmetrical pattern.

A car pulled up outside.

“Is that Mrs. Davis?” Micah asked, peering through the store windows. “I’ll go tell her the shop is closed before she has to get her three kids out of the car.”

Andrew pushed himself off the counter to follow Micah but she held up her hand. “I got it. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

“I think she did that on purpose,” I said after Micah had left.

“What?”

“Left us alone. She wants us to be friends.”

“She’s delusional,” he said.

I laughed. “So delusional. Hold these.”

He took the flowers from me. I clipped the stems and added several more to the bundle in his hand.

“What’s the secret to a good arrangement?” he asked.

“Shape,” I said, and took a step back to get a better look. “Good enough.” I slid the vase up the stems and Andrew released his hold.

“They look nice,” he said.

“You can’t compliment the ones I make in less than five minutes.”

“It’s the first one I’ve seen that you weren’t making specifically with a client in mind.”

I shook my head. “I definitely had John Farnsworth in mind.”

“The dead guy? How so?”

“I used lots of lilies.”

The bell rang on the door and Micah poked her head in. “My friends, we should probably go before we miss the funeral.”

“We wouldn’t want that.” Andrew picked up the two arrangements I’d pulled out of the fridge and I carried out the third. This would be a much better showing. John deserved it.